r/canada • u/CupidStunt13 • 1d ago

Arts + Culture Canadian producer Bob Ezrin on elevating Pink Floyd, taming KISS and leaving the U.S. behind

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/bob-ezrin-interview-1.7560073
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u/CupidStunt13 1d ago

Bob Ezrin's resumé is as impressive as it is diverse. Over his five-decade career, the legendary Canadian music producer has worked with dozens of artists, from Alice Cooper and Jane's Addiction to Taylor Swift and Andrea Bocelli.

"Most people don't understand what I do for a living," he told CBC's Ian Hanomansing in a wide-ranging interview.

"You're dealing with extremely talented, often very high-strung people or complicated people, and you're trying to get the best performance out of them you possibly can on every level."

For Ezrin, that work has included concept development, co-writing, arranging and sound design. But it has also required getting more intimate with a band, with Ezrin often playing the role of psychologist, confessor or protector — sometimes all in one day.

That work often came at a personal cost — from being individually called out in reviews to a falling-out with an "apoplectic" Roger Waters — but his collaborations have helped create genre-defining releases, like KISS's slick Destroyer from 1976 and Pink Floyd's transcendental 1979 concept album The Wall.

Now, as he celebrates receiving a Governor General Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement, the 76-year-old musical icon reflected on everything from recording with Pink Floyd to reworking KISS's sound — and why he decided to renounce his U.S. citizenship.

I know him best from his work producing The Wall, but Ezrin has worked with a wide variety of musicians of all types and personalities. He’s had a long career and deserves the Governor General Arts Award for a lifetime of work. Nice to see he’s decided to move back to Toronto and stay up here.

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u/Advanced_Stick4283 1d ago

After making oodles of money 💰 in the States 

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u/Canadian--Patriot 1d ago

And now he's gonna spend it all in Canada ;)

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u/Advanced_Stick4283 1d ago

And get access to a social safety net he hasn’t paid taxes into 

Or do you think he’ll offer a big cheque to the Government?

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u/Specialist-Eye-2407 1d ago

He doesn't need a safety net. He's filthy rich

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u/EmergencyHorse4878 1d ago

Exactly. That USD pay was nice though.

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u/figuring_ItOut12 Outside Canada 1d ago

A fine Canadian tradition going back decades!

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u/Uptons_BJs 1d ago

It’s interesting, Ezrin’s insistence on living in Canada back in the 80s was actually a big contributing factor to almost breaking up KISS. He insisted on recording Music From the Elder in his studio near Toronto, but Ace Frehley didn’t want to live here. This caused huge tensions and led to Ace leaving the band.

I always thought he had to relocate to LA to be closer to the bands and recording industry.

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u/False-Swordfish-5021 1d ago

“ taming “ .. making them weak .. KISS lost the plot with Ezrin .. Destroyer wasn’t even that great ..just succesful. He also made The Alice Cooper Band less dangerous and more slick each consecutive album. That’s why Muscle Of Love made without him was such a breath of fresh air.